A linear equalizer (e.g., a linear finite impulse response equalizer, a continuous time linear equalizer, a feedback path linear equalizer, etc.) may be used to reduce an inter-symbol interference (ISI) in a circuit (e.g., a communications circuit, a Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes), etc.). However, the linear equalizer may increase a noise (e.g., an unwanted signal characteristic, a thermal noise, etc.) and/or a crosstalk. The linear equalizer may also not effectively remove ISI against a channel with a deep frequency null.
The linear equalizer may also have an adaptation problem (e.g., tuning a setting of the linear equalizer). For example, a designer may manually adjust the setting (e.g., a pole setting, a zero setting, a gain setting, etc.) such that the linear equalizer transfer function in the frequency domain may be a least mean square match to the inverse of the channel frequency response at relevant frequencies. However, a channel response may not be known in advance. In addition, an optimization algorithm used to match the linear transfer function (e.g., the inverse of the channel frequency response in the least mean square sense) to a target response may be complex.